Garcia Leads Rancho Alamitos to Victory Against Magnolia

Rancho Alamitos receiver Maurice Garcia caught touchdown passes of 17 and 28 yards to lead the Vaqueros to a 22-16 nonleague victory over Magnolia Thursday night at Glover Stadium.

The Vaqueros (1-1) scored first at 8:25 of the first quarter on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Green to Matt Hildreth.

On its first play from scrimmage, Magnolia (0-2) lost quarterback Greg Moye and were forced to go with sophomore Ivan Mendoza, who was ineffective throughout the first half.

Rancho Alamitos then scored again, in the second quarter, on a 17-yard pass from Green to Garcia, and then missed the extra point. The key plays on the drive were a 17-yard pass to Hildreth and a 22-yard pass play to Zeke Rodriguez.

Magnolia was sparked somewhat in the second half by the return of Moye, who led them on a 55-yard drive to the Vaquero seven-yard line before turning over the ball on downs.

On its next possession, Magnolia scored on a seven-yard pass from Moye to tight end Sam Tewell, then added the two-point conversion on a pass from Moye to Jeff Martin.

Rancho Alamitos all but sealed the victory with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Green to Garcia with a a pass for the two-point conversion failing.

The Vaqueros added a 41-yard field goal to make the score 22-8.